Asheville, N.C. – Despite playing a man down for the final 10 minutes of regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods, the USC Upstate men's soccer team gutted out a 3-3 tie in the season opener at UNC Asheville Friday night at Greenwood Field.

Upstate fell behind 3-2 after going a man down but managed to tie the game in the late stages of regulation and held on for the tie in overtime. The Spartans stand 0-0-1 on the year and will play its home opener on Sept. 6 against Gardner-Webb at County University Soccer Stadium. UNC Asheville also stands 0-0-1 on the year after the tie.

"To lose a guy and score with a man down is really, really good," said Upstate head Greg Hooks. "So we will certainly take the tie. I told our players afterward that going down 2-0 was poor play on our part. But, to come back and tie it showed resilience. To come back from a 3-2 deficit with 10 men is almost like a win."

UNC Asheville made a counter attack work in the 12^th minute after a long pass was played from the back to the left side of the box. Victory Aguiar played a one touch pass from left to right to Jackson Allen, who directed the ball into the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Upstate avoided going down 2-0 midway through the first half. The Bulldogs took a corner kick and Quentin Reynolds' header hit the cross bar and went out of bounds for a Spartan goal kick.

After the teams took a 2-minute water break to combat the excessive heat, Allen struck again for UNCA. He took the ball down the left side and took a shot. The shot glanced off the post and into the goal to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead in the 26^th minute.

Upstate responded in the 28^th minute on a counter attack. After a solid scoring opportunity was thwarted by the Spartan defense, Upstate moved the ball downfield on the left side of the pitch. The ball was played toward the middle where Flynn gained control and flicked a pass through the UNCA defense to Kyle Juell, who took the pass out of the air and into the left side of the net to get the Spartans to within 2-1. It was Juell's first career goal at Upstate.

Upstate keeper Hassan Haddad made a diving save on a close-in shot from Aguiar late in the first half to keep the Spartans within a goal. The teams went into the half with UNCA holding a 2-1 lead.

Upstate pressured early in the second half and the pressure paid off on a counter attack in the 52^nd minute. After Tucker Beerman and Flynn combined to dispossess Reynolds just outside of the box, the Spartans moved the ball quickly up field down the left side. A ball was played to Peter Bannister about 22 yards out from the goal in the middle of the field. He took a couple of touches, moved left around the charging UNCA keeper, and split two defenders with his shot into the right side of the goal to tie the game at 2-2.

Taylor Scalera nearly put Upstate ahead in the 77^th minute when he was able to move around his defender and go on a 2-on-1 down the left side of the box. UNCA keeper Dan Jackson came off his line and smothered a shot from Scalera to keep the game tied.

Just a minute later, Upstate committed a foul in the middle of the field about 25 yards out. Paul Egle took the free kick and sent a shot over the wall, curving it into the upper left 90 to give UNCA a 3-2 lead in the 78^th minute.

Despite having to play a man down after Juell exited the game upon picking up his second yellow card of the game, Upstate hung tough and tied the game at 3-3 with less than 10 minutes to play. The Spartans benefitted from a UNCA handball in the box, which resulted in a penalty kick for the Spartans. Schmiege took the penalty kick and put the shot away for the second equalizer of the game. Schmiege's goal pushed the game into overtime.

Neither team managed to get a really solid scoring opportunity in the two overtime periods and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Upstate out-shot UNCA 18-13 for the game. Haddad led the Spartans with seven saves.

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